A SHADE OF BLACK
by Demoniclily
Summary: Kara had been warned about the cloaked men, but she thought they were just myths... until she met them. They chase her, trying to catch her. She'd heard Voldemort was dead, but the death eaters still exist.Both Draco and Harry meet her, and attempt...
1. The cloaked Men

Two hooded men crept from the shadows, as silent as ghosts. Kara edged backwards, keeping her mud brown eyes fixed on the two advancing men.

'W-Who are you?' she stammered anxiously. Kara's heart began to beat faster, almost leaping from its place, as her question remained unanswered. She tried to peer through the murkiness but the shadows masked their faces from her view. The two silent men stepped forward. Kara carried on backing away, until her back was firmly against the wall which stood boldly behind her. She wanted to escape, but on a quick scan of the area she decided that it was a dubious idea, and whoever the men that stood before her were, they wanted something... something from her. Kara loathed the mysteriousness of the two men, she liked things to be plain and in sight. They didn't advance; instead they stood still, hardly breathing at all. It all seemed a bit immoral to Kara, if they wanted something then why didn't they speak? Why did they stay still? A small perilous idea seeped into her head, it was so small and it seemed hopeless. Upon seeing her worried expressions, a strange voice filled the air.

'Don't bother running,' it laughed. The strange amusement that lay in its voice, made Kara's breathing speed up. She knew immediately that they wanted to hurt her, or take her. She'd heard of the cloaked men that came to steal powerful witches and wizards, but she thought that they were just legends. Absurd ideas filled her head, of everything that linked with the idea of the cloaked me.

'No,' she murmured aloud. 'Stay back.' A long enduring fear overcame her as her right hand trailed down the side of her dark jeans. She hoped that the two cloaked men wouldn't see that she was lowering her hand towards her pocket, making her way to her wand. The darkness retreated, revealing two pale white faces underneath the hoods of the men. Their eyes were colourless and had an almost transparent look to them. Both of them had an identical hack of flesh missing from underneath their left eye, the strings of flesh that hung inside looked rotten and painful. Kara easily noticed the safe glimmer in her eyes as her fingers wrapped around the wand, inside her pocket. The dankness of the sky, peered down at the scene below, the temperature began to fall and the silence was replaced by a deep growling. She was sure that it wasn't one of the men, but there was nobody else that she could see. Nobody else that could possibly produce such a bloodcurdling sound.

'Leave your wand alone,' the mysterious voice growled. Kara flinched, her fingers tightening on the wooden handle of her wand. 'Pull your hand out of your pocket.' She wasn't sure how anybody could know that she had her hand in her pocket, or that there was a wand inside. She had tried to do it as secretly as possible. 'Out!' the voice demanded. Kara's grip loosened. 'Good... now step forward.' She did as the voice commanded, even though she really didn't want to. In the stories she had heard about the cloaked people, they only took witches and wizards, she didn't even think that it was true at first. Knowing that it was almost likely true, she hoped for the best. Suddenly both of the cloaked men's right hands shot out straight, black twisted wands within their grips. She let out a whimper, beginning to nervously shake. 'Step forward.' Their horrid faces became concealed again by the opaqueness of the shadows, only their wands remained untouched by the darkness. Kara's head quickly danced to the right, peering down the street. 'Come here!' the voice shouted, the voice sounded impatient. She let out a weary groan, as her mind thought over the can chances of getting away if she ran. Ever since she'd seen their hellish faces, she wasn't sure if she was dreaming, or if she was actually living the frightful reality. 'Come here child,' the voice echoed. 'We shan't hurt you.'

Without thinking Kara slipped her hand into her pocket and yanked out her wand, flicking it towards one of the cloaked men.

'Avis!' A flock of birds materialised into the darkness, and began to fly around madly, distracting the two cloaked men. Kara threw her body into a fast sprint, not daring to look behind her. All of the fretting that she had done made her run even more, she didn't slow down until she arrived at the end of the damp grey street. All of a sudden a bright green flash burst across the sky, casting a one second haze across her pale face.

'You can't run.'

'Leave me alone!' Kara bellowed. Her pale complexion turned a slightly red colour as the sounds of birds faded into the thin atmosphere. A clatter of moving bins vibrated behind Kara, causing her to spin in fear. 'Go away!' The metal bins gave of a rusty metallic smell, as they continued to shake. She backed away, squinting heavily. Her wand was raised in front of her face, aimed at the cluster of bins. Gradually she lowered it, unsure whether it was the wind that was moving them. She swiftly swung her body around and looked for another way to run, somewhere twisted or curved, out of sight. A vast emptiness lay around her, followed by silence. There was no sign of life around her, nor were there any curves in the street. The street ran straight, houses standing either side of the cold moist street. Her wand remained stiff in her hand, she knew there was no possibility that the danger had gone. It was still there... somewhere. Darkness surrounded her, but something stood out in a strange silvery glow. A small wide open, hot brown wooden door. Even from a distance, it seemed inviting... accessible.


	2. Playing House

As downtrodden as Kara felt, she lugged her body through the front door of the building. Instantly a putrid smell invaded her nose, and added to her misery. If she had looked back at that exact moment she would have gagged with fear, for on the back of the door a half eaten dog was tied to the wood. Its blood encrusted sockets still leaking with a red luminous fluid, and its fur bleached with its own bitter blood. Kara stepped forward, placing her wand back inside the warmth of her jean pocket. If she'd known about the poor dog, she would have kept her wand out, for whatever had murdered the hound lay waiting for her. The cumbersome wood beneath her feet rocked as she dragged her feet across it, feeling the opposite of stable. Every speck of the house as far as she could see was coated with a thick layer of dust and germs; it was nauseating for her as she preferred nice clean open spaces. Kara had left the door open, which seemed like a bad thing to do while being hunted. She stood still, pieces of crumbled wood dropping into her long jet black hair. The ceiling was held up by a few rows of cracked stone columns which ran along the circumference of the area. She fumbled with her wand, which stayed in her pocket uselessly. From the corner of her eyes she noticed a small battered drum of oil. Some of the oil ran along the floor, trailing towards the stairs which lay a few feet away. It used through the weak floorboards, dyeing them a broad asphalt coloured black. Kara's nose had turned off to avoid the odours, which meant that she had lost one of her senses. The arid walls that she stood next to, were almost transparent somehow... glass. A wall of glass. She half-heartedly stared through the glass, but there was nothing on the other side. She started to think, her eyes floating to the ceiling which anxiously slanted. Why would a glass wall be here?

She had been afraid numerous times, but with her feelings and emotions violently pumping around her body, she couldn't concentrate. Kara jumped as a pair of large pink eyes appeared on the other side of the glass, but yet she didn't scream or run away. The eyes didn't look lethal or dangerous in any way, but it wasn't the eyes which she should be worried about. Under the large pink eyes, blistered skin and a slim bony body supported it's weight. Long stick like fingers lay on the end of it's snow white flesh. It watched Kara, glaring at her eyes through the cold glass. Kara glared back.

'Kara Lonsdale?' it squeaked.

'Yeah... how'd you know my name?'

'Turn around.' Kara did as the voice squeaked, directly behind her an old lady, with long dirt filled white hair, stood gazing at her. The same big pink eyes that the thing on the other side of the mirror wall had. No not the same. They were.

'How did you get there?' A small sneaky grin crept across the ladies face and she exploded into a puff of smoke.

'I'm here,' she said appearing behind her. 'Now here.' Smoke flickered inches away from her, and from the clearing smoke, the lady emerged.

'How- '

'Shush!' she hissed. 'I knew you would come... I knew.' What did she mean by those words? You couldn't just know, could you? Kara wanted to run, but the lady seemed like she wanted to help. She gripped her wand tightly, bringing it out to her side, letting it dangle. 'Follow me,' the lady said, prancing up the stairs. Kara followed.

'What's that smell? The lady stopped and let the smell soak into the pores on her nose.

'A potion.' She carried on walking, Kara following closely behind. 'You can smell the Asphodel. That's what gives it that death like smell.'

'I smell...' They both exchanged emotionless looks. 'Ginger.'

'Ha-ha,' the lady chuckled. 'I love me ginger, gives me potion a right kick!' The ladies strange mood swings began to make Kara feel unsafe. 'Hurry, hurry... must hurry.'

'Excuse me, do you mind if I ask why we need to hurry?'

'Because,' she laughed hysterically. 'Those nasty cloaked men will be here soon.' The ladies face suddenly became serious. 'Have to help you... don't want you to die.'


End file.
